Aaron E. Carroll’s Incidental Economist Blog notes that the Super Bowl can be bad for your health, especially if your team is one of the participants. The odds go up that you will die!

Die!!

Not from a crazed guest at a Super Bowl party rooting for the other team or a crossed bookie.  From the flu.

According to a new study published in the American Journal of Health Economics, the death rate from the flu is appreciably higher among those whose home team makes it to the Super Bowl.

This seemingly puzzling finding actually makes some sense. The Super Bowl occurs during the heart of flu season and is the reason many mingle at Super Bowl parties. And fans with their team in the big game are probably more likely to attend one.

The flu virus can spread whenever a person with it releases droplets of saliva — by coughing, sneezing or even talking — within six feet of someone without it. At a Super Bowl party, people are mingling closely.

So that Super Bowl orgy is probably a pretty reckless idea.  Where would you keep the dip?

[Sad trombone]